Heinemann Vogelstein (February 13, 1841 - August 4, 1911) was a German rabbi and leader of

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Biography

Heinemann Vogelstein was born in

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

on February 13, 1841, the son of Julie (née Adler) and Israel Vogelstein. In 1859, he began his studies at

University of Wroclaw A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and then at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau (official name: ) was an institution in Breslau for the training of rabbis, founded under the will of Jonah Fränckel, and opened in 1854. The seminary, at what is now an empty building plot (used as a ...

where he received his PhD in 1865 (his thesis was entitled Die Alexandersage bei den Orientalen''). In 1861, he became a member of the ''

Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary established in Berlin in 1872 and closed down by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942. Upon the order of the government, the name ...

''.53 Yearbook for Jewish History and Literature (1925): "Wroclaw memories" Kasta, Isidoe. (1925), p 67. He was

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

in Pilsen (1868-1880) and

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

(from 1880 until his death), founder and chairman (until his death) of the ''Vereinigung der liberalen Rabbiner'' (Union of Liberal Rabbis) and Deputy Chairman of the ''Vereinigung für das Liberale Judentum in Deutschland'' (Union for Liberal Judaism in Germany). From 1894 to 1896 he published a book of prayers in two volumes in which all references to Jewish nationalism had been eliminated. As an opponent of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

he joined the protest movement in 1897 and published a pamphlet in 1906 entitled ''Der Zionismus, eine Gefahr für die gedeihliche Entwickelung des Judentums'' (Zionism, a Danger to the Prosperous Development of Judaism). In 1889, he wrote ''Kampf zwischen Priestern und Leviten seit den Tagen Ezechiels'' (Struggle between priests and the Levites since the days of

Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...

). In 1928, a street was named after him in Szczecin.

Personal life

Vogelstein was the father of

Hermann Vogelstein Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Mis ...

, Ludwig Vogelstein, Theodor Vogelstein, and Julie Braun-Vogelstein. He died on August 4, 1911 in St. Moritz.

References

* Helge Dvorak: ''Biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft''. Bd. 1, Teilbd. 8, Supplement L–Z. Winter, Heidelberg 2014, , S. 358–360. * Chajim David Lippe: ''Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten jüdischen Literatur der Gegenwart und Adress-Anzeiger.'' Löwy, Wien 1881; Neue Serie, Wien 1899 * Georg Herlitz und Bruno Kirschner: ''Jüdisches Lexikon.''Band 4,2, Jüdischer Verlag, Berlin 1927. *

Salomon Wininger Salomon Wininger (; 13 December 1877, Gura Humora, Bukovina – December 1968, in Ramat Gan, Israel) was an Austrian-Jewish biographer. He has been called one of the greatest Jewish biographers of all time. Before World War I, Wininger lived in ...

: ''Große jüdische National-Biographie.'' Volume 6, Orient . a. Cernãuţi 1936 * ''Philo-Lexikon. Handbuch des jüdischen Wissens.'' 4th edition, Philo-Verlag, Berlin . a.1937 * ''Encyclopaedia Judaica.'' Band 16, Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jerusalem 1971 * Ernst G. Lowenthal: ''Juden in Preußen.'' Reimer, Berlin 1981 * Rudolf M. Wlaschek: ''Biographia Judaica Bohemiae.'' Band 1, Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa, Dortmund 1995 (= Veröffentlichungen der Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa an der Universität Dortmund, Band 52) *

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Göttinge ...

and

Rudolf Vierhaus Rudolf Vierhaus (29 October 1922 – 13 November 2011) was a German historian who mainly researched the Early modern period. He had been a professor at the newly founded Ruhr University Bochum since 1964. From 1971, he was director of the in Göt ...

(publishers): ''

Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie The ''Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie'' (''DBE'') is a biographical dictionary published by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus (from the third to fourth volume), the first edition of which was published from 1995 to 2003 in 13 volumes by K. G ...

.'' Volume 10, Saur, München . a.1999. * Eintrag ''VOGELSTEIN, Heinemann,Dr.'' In Michael Brocke and Julius Carlebach (Herausgeber), bearbeitet von Carsten Wilke: ''Biographisches Handbuch der Rabbiner.'' Teil 1: ''Die Rabbiner der Emanzipationszeit in den deutschen, böhmischen und großpolnischen Ländern 1781–1871.'' K·G·Saur, Munich 2004, , S. 873f. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vogelstein, Heinemann 1841 births 1911 deaths Anti-Zionist Reform rabbis German Reform rabbis People from Lippe